EBRD and EU to mobilise up to €100 million for critical raw materials investments

• EBRD and EU launch joint equity investment facility for critical raw materials
• Facility worth €50 million expected to mobilise another €50 million
• Investments to support digitalisation and the green transition

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Union (EU) have launched a joint facility to provide equity investments for the exploration of critical and strategic raw materials, aiming to mobilise up to €100 million in investments. These raw materials are essential to the EU's digital and green transition.

The EU is developing sustainable projects for critical raw materials to reduce the risk of potential supply-chain disruptions. This will ensure that industrial sectors have the necessary resources while maintaining EU environmental and social standards. The new joint facility will support the objectives of the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act and the REPowerEU Plan.

The EBRD is providing €25 million and this will be matched by the EU's contribution from the Horizon Europe Programme under the InvestEU umbrella. The facility aims to mobilise a further €50 million.

It will build on the EBRD's extensive experience in financing mining projects, facilitating early-stage equity investments in operations in EU Member States where the Bank operates (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia), as well as EBRD economies outside the EU that are covered by the Horizon Europe programme (Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye and Ukraine).

As mining exploration activities do not yet generate revenue, the most suitable support instrument is equity. The EBRD expects to invest in 5-10 junior mining companies (small and medium-sized enterprises, medium-sized enterprises or small mid-caps) that undertake critical raw material exploration in eligible countries.

The facility will also contribute to one of the key priorities of the EBRD's Mining Sector Strategy, to support the exploration and production of metals and minerals required for the green energy transition and digitalisation.

The facility will be used to fund responsible exploration activities, delivered to high climate, governance, environmental and social impact standards. The EBRD's rigorous Paris Agreement alignment and Environmental and Social Policy screening will be applied to all projects.

The facility is part of the EBRD's recently approved Junior Mining Framework worth €150 million for equity and quasi-equity investments in early-stage mining companies.

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